Stores that are doing a midnight release are doing them Thursday night going into Friday. I've heard some GameStops are actually starting sales at 9 pm on Thursday night, as are some Best Buys I guess.

At [undisclosed red circle retailer] we aren't doing either, just opening as normal on Friday morning, when it will be available immediately.

Wow. Normally my son would be crawling all over this but I'm just shocked that he hasn't pestered me about trying to get this. We own the Wii, Wii U probably three or four 3DS's and he hasn't pined for the Switch at all. I'm pretty sure he is Nintendo's target demo and so far, silence.

I haven't bought a console since the PS3, which I barely used, and the Wii, which I used frequently and then all of a sudden just stoped. I haven't had a portable gaming system since a Game Boy, so that should be fun. I really just want to be able to play all of the old NES games and Mario kart. If I can only get those, I'd be happy.

Which Mario Kart? My Raspberry Pi has been amazing for this. You can easily play any of the old NES/SNES games as well as pretty much anything from the PS1 era or earlier. N64 is not nearly as good, but it still works with some of the most popular titles (Mario Kart 64, Super Mario 64, Ocarina of Time).

Hell if you want portable, a used Android phone and a controller with a built-in phone clamp will do all the same stuff. Should work with a jailbroken iPhone/iPad as well.

Since I got my Raspberry Pi set up, I haven't felt much desire to play new games, since I can just go back and play old games instead. There's an enormous library of them that I will never be able to complete.

Which Mario Kart? My Raspberry Pi has been amazing for this. You can easily play any of the old NES/SNES games as well as pretty much anything from the PS1 era or earlier. N64 is not nearly as good, but it still works with some of the most popular titles (Mario Kart 64, Super Mario 64, Ocarina of Time).

Hell if you want portable, a used Android phone and a controller with a built-in phone clamp will do all the same stuff. Should work with a jailbroken iPhone/iPad as well.

Since I got my Raspberry Pi set up, I haven't felt much desire to play new games, since I can just go back and play old games instead. There's an enormous library of them that I will never be able to complete.

I've thought about that. They were talking about it on a podcast I was listening to. I'm just not sure that's what I want to do just yet. The Switch looks good and I'd like to support Nintendo if I can.

I'm thinking about the Switch for my family. Once my Wii broke we never replaced it. We loved it while we played it, balance board and all. At this point though, the Xbox 360 is king here with my kids. My PS3 does nothing now that it doesn't fold anymore. Currently I'm playing on my Retro Pie like Luca.

My biggest concern about the switch is my little ones breaking it trying to use it like an iPad or losing a controller, etc. I love the concept if it was for me though.

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a notion of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
MineCraft? mc.applenova.com | Visit us! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it.

I've thought about that. They were talking about it on a podcast I was listening to. I'm just not sure that's what I want to do just yet. The Switch looks good and I'd like to support Nintendo if I can.

You know, if you want to support Nintendo directly, you could buy an NES Classic. They're apparently slightly more available now, and some people have said that they've just seen them for sale in Best Buys and other stores.

People have already hacked the thing apart. First they were able to put up to 60 games on it (double the original 30), then they figured out how to put ALL NES games on it, and now you can even install emulators for other systems so you can play games for the SNES, Genesis, Game Boy, etc. At its core, the NES Classic is just a cheap single board computer like a Raspberry Pi.

The only thing is, it appears doing the hack to get all this extra stuff on it is at least as involved as setting up a Raspberry Pi. But it does come in a cool little mini-NES case.

I really want to go out and buy a Switch, but the list of day-one games, and even more the list of games scheduled to come out in the next year is very uninspiring. I have a hard time justifying it when I don't see a lot of games I would buy.

Had a bunch of gift cards from the last couple years that I completely forgot about so I just ordered a Switch with a 128gb card, Zelda and Mario Odyssey. Pretty excited, especially since I didn't really have to pay anything.

Now let's get going on this Virtual Console (or whatever they're calling it)!

If anyone has any other good recommendations, let me know. Most likely I will be mainly playing it solo and I'm also kind of a traditionalist. I'll probably pick up Mario Kart eventually. Maybe the new Donkey Kong.

Nice! I guess I failed to mention here that my wife surprised me by buying us a Switch on launch day last year with a copy of Breath of the Wild. I think I've sunk over 300 hours into BotW. Most of that was within the first six months, and at this point I try not to pick it up again so that in the not-too-distant future I might wipe my save, start from scratch, and try to experience it with a fresh set of eyes.

The only other game we've purchased is Super Mario Odyssey. To me Odyssey felt very much like BotW in the sense of OMG they got this so right. I didn't 100% it, but I'm pretty sure I'm in the 99% area with only a handful of missed purple coins and moons. I think Odyssey ate up another 100 hours of my play time.

If it's not too late, I'd still encourage you to veer away from the temptations of guides, walkthroughs, tutorials, etc. for both games, although I know by now it's probably impossible to have avoided all spoilers. I found that both of these games, more so BotW, give a very rewarding sense of progression as I figured out puzzles and pushed forward in the game, and since they both broke away from the traditional "send you back to the start" pattern after finding a MacGuffin collectable token, the sense of dread for waiting and retracing your steps is all gone and it sometimes feels like you're moving forward at lightning speed.

If you didn't play Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze on a Wii U, it looks like that's a good one to pick up, but be warned that if you're a completionist, DKTF can be pretty punishing as its "100%" goals are clearly designed for skilled and persistent gamers. The aesthetic and play feel of the recent DK games is really good IMO, and it seems that DKTF's original Wii U release didn't get a fair shot since the Wii U was such a dud on the market. So, I'm really happy to see it getting a new life on the Switch.

I'm still looking at getting a Switch. I haven't yet, but really holding back since I have other places I'm trying to put my cash right now.

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a notion of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
MineCraft? mc.applenova.com | Visit us! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it.

So I got myself a Switch for Christmas! Yes, it really is for me...though I let my kids play it some.

Anyway, Currently I only have what came with the Let's Go Pikachu edition. I've noticed I really need another power cord for this thing. Are there any other accessories I really should look at getting? I could see a car adapter for longer road trips but we don't have any of those in the plans for now.

The Switch Online service; is it worth it?

I'm not a fan of such small game cards (especially with my kids getting ahold of them) so I'm thinking everything will be a digital download version...so a large MicroSD card is in order. Is there a card type that works better than any other? So I need a super speed card or basic SanDisk going to be enough?

Overall I'm loving the Switch and so is my wife. Of course the kids do too.

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a notion of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
MineCraft? mc.applenova.com | Visit us! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it.

This is true with the VC-esk system they have set up. Started with like 30 "essential" games and they add 3 each month. It's not bad though because it's $19.99 for 12 months. I do like how in the NES games you can save at any point unlike on the old systems where you'd have to get a check point or whatnot.

Plus as a subscriber you can purchase these awesome NES controllers that work with the Switch. They are overpriced but the nostalgia and look are great.

You know, I really wish they would put digital games on sale like they do physical copies. I don't want to mess with cards but other than waiting until next November it looks like the only deals are on physical copies as opposed to digital downloads.

I did get Mario Cart 8 but still no BotW or Odyssey. I really want both of those.

I did buy the family Switch Online for a year. I still don't like the subscription model but it just seemed too worth it. I've actually be playing the Legend of Zelda on there more than any other game lately.

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a notion of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
MineCraft? mc.applenova.com | Visit us! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it.

I bought Breath of the Wild last night. I haven't made it far since I didn't get to play long. I put a tablet in a thing that grew. Game play seems cool so far. I like that I can turn the camera angle any way I want.

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a notion of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
MineCraft? mc.applenova.com | Visit us! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it.